Gabe's 2nd Birthday Pictures

Gabe's 2nd birthday was just perfect! Since his party was not going to be until Sunday, Jayce talked me into letting him open one gift early, on the day of his actual birthday... Jayce carried his present into his room and pretty much threw it in his crib, I did manage to get him out before they both tore into it! Jayce's first words were "Hey Gabe, how about I give you something of mine, and I can have this, so let's trade!" I was thinking this birthday was gonna be a hard one for Jayce!

Turns out Sunday could not have been more perfect... Jayce did just fine at the party, helped him open his presents or opened them for him rather... but he was having too much fun to be jealous for long!

We had a very small gathering at the clubhouse... just family, and it was really nice! We got a honey baked ham sandwich tray, I made fruit salad, and homeade salsa to go with the chips and it... Easy, and GOOD, my kind of party!

Gabe really enjoyed his cake and playing with all his cousins or "friends," as Jayce calls them!

Happy 2nd Birthday Gabe!

Kind of a random photo of Gabe, but I just love it! Will post more vacation pictures later!

I can hardly believe my baby boy is two! It truly seems like only yesterday I found out I was expecting him... A little scared with a 1 1/2 year old by my side, little did I know the blessing Gabriel would truly be to us! I could go on and on about all the reasons I love this little guy, but will try to summarize below what I love most about Gabe these days...
-He loves to give "sugars" and say "MMM-ahh"
-He loves to give hugs and a little "pat pat" on the back just to let you know he cares!
-He loves to greet and wave to every one who is even remotely close by!
-He LOVES TO TALK... On our family beach trip 2 weeks ago, Nanny commented how much you can tell about people by living in such close quarters... She concluded that Gabe and I were about the only morning people in a house of 17, as we were up and talking first thing, while everyone else was grumbling and stumbling around... On the other hand, they were up past midnight, while Gabe and I were snoring or ready to be!
-He LOVES to Sing still! The ladies in the gym last week told them he was singing -Happy Birthday to mama all last week... we'll see if he'll actually sing to himself today! He also loves to dance anytime there is a beat, and boy does he have rhythm!
-He likes to say the blessing, imitating his big brother's "God our Father" song
-He is very aware when I am stopping to pray with Jayce sometimes (like when we are having a rough morning or I have just lost my temper and need to ask forgiveness)that I am praying and will chime in "AMEN" at the very end...
-He loves to be outside and I have to keep all deadbolts locked to keep him from escaping!
-He loves to sit on the potty (although he has not actually used it yet) and wash his hands!
-The first thing he does when he wakes up is says "Where's Jayce" and before he goes down says (Night night Jayce)
-If we are riding in the car together, and Jayce falls asleep, he will say "Where's Jayce? Night night?"
-Gabe's favorite words right now are "I wanna get out!" But he says it so fast it is like one long word... He still does not like to be confined in his carseat or high chair for extended periods of time and this is how he'll let us know!
-He will say "I"m full" when he's done with lunch now...
-His most favorite thing in the world to do is talk on the phone and every time it rings he says "I wanna talk to mimi," he thinks it is always mimi (who could either be my mom or nanny, since he calls her that too)
-Loves to play ready, set go, or 1-2-3 and let Jay throw him up in the air, he has no fear!

Gabe is so funny, happy, and sweet spirited and we cannot help but love our sweet boy to pieces! Yes, we have our moments, we are two, but would not change a thing! We love you sweet baby Gabe, yes you are still my baby!

PS, will post pic s from our small family birthday party tomorrow... after mono and my sweet grandfather's funeral this week, we decided to just do things on a small scale this year... it won't matter to Gabe, he has fun everywhere... as long as we let him wiggle! :)

Gabe

Gabe's personality is really coming out these days! He is so funny!

His favorite thing to say right now is "how you?" and then he wants you to ask him back and he says "Goo," without the d, it is adorable!

He is still loving to sing all the time, favorites are happy birthday, bible, and jesus loves me!

He has this thing with names that is really funny... It started with him calling his Nanny "Mimi." We will practice again and again and say "Gabe say nanny." He will just laugh and say, no mimi! (which is my mom's name)...
Then he calls all the nursery workers at McLeod Ro-Ro (for Ms. Rosa)... they say he turns it into a game and looks at her and then walks over to someone else and calls them that and just laughs...
Finally, he calls Tara "Christa," only because her cousin Christa was over one day at the same time and I think he just thinks it's easier to say... We will be clear across church and he will wave excitedly saying "Hi Christa!" It is so crazy... We will keep working on getting the names right and in the mean time, thank goodness they are all good sports!

Jayce

Jayce's 4 year appt stats: (only 3 mts late)
41 lbs, height: 41.75 inches
Jay took him to get his shots and he did awesome! I was so chicken, I sent Jay and could not believe how well he did!

Jayce said to me the other morning, as I was going to get Gabe...
"No mommy, wait for me, let me go first! I don't want him to be surprised when he sees you, I want him to be surprised when he sees me!"
He walked right in and said "Good morning brother, how are you today?"

Jay has been taking Jayce out to hit golf balls lately in the yard... and he's making some good contact which is making Jay especially happy! Last weekend they were in the yard when Jayce's favorite neighborhood gal came by, "Ella." Jay called me and said, "Baby, it has already begun..." He said Jayce hit ball after ball, while Ella and her little sister Sara clapped and clapped, and Jayce beamed so bright! Jay said he had never seen that grin on Jayce's face before... think he's in love!
Last night, he made her a "letter," out of a recycled birthday card someone had given him, and included some fake money inside for her and could not wait to take it to her... Yep, it has begun...The good thing is, I would totally approve! She's adorable and super sweet!

Summer Fun!

So we are having a great summer so far!
We took a beach trip with our great friends Jay, Tara, and Wallace a few weeks ago and all the boys had a blast! The daddies helped them build their first sandcastle!
The biggest challenge was keeping Gabe from stomping all over it! I thought it turned out pretty good for their first one!

I'm posting a cute picture of Gabe eating watermelon. Hooray, we found something else to add to his menu! He could not get enough of that... I told Jay maybe we should just cut a watermelon each night to keep our boys entertained, happy, and quiet!!!

I catch Jayce saying so many cute things these days, and I can barely remember 1/2 of them but here are a few I do recall:
-The other morning, Gabe was still in bed and Jayce said, "Hey mom, where's the little guy?"
-yesterday, I heard him talking to Gabe and he said, "Hey Gabe, you're my little buckaroo!"

Gabe too is loving to talk about and to Jayce constantly
-When he wakes up the first thing he says is "Where's Jayce?"
-He loves to say "Come on Ja-ayce" (2 syllables, with his southern draw)
-Still loves to sing and his new favorite is Jesus Loves Me... Jay has taught him to make muscles and scrunch up his face to say "STRONG" (as in we are weak but he is strong)... He loves this and will do this over and over again, just cackling!

We are enjoying the freedom to not necessarily sleep late, but to get out and about a little later! It should be a fun summer!

Gabe's HAIR

My good friend Christie has a new camera and is doing awesome with it! I asked her to get some pictures of Gabe and his hair before my husband makes me cut it. I do agree it's getting a little out of control, mainly the mullet in the back... We will do a small trim... I just know they are gonna keep it short the rest of their lives probably once they are older...

Anyhow, I think she got some great pictures!

Jayce 4, Gabe almost 2

Just wanted to post a few recent pictures and write what the boys have been up to...

Gabe and Jayce are both very active and lively at this age to say the least, hence the little time for blogging lately! In the past, I have always said that at least God seems to only make one go through a challenging stage at a time, and how much I was thankful for that... Well, I guess he thought I had too much time on my hands and needed a new challenge! So, they are both a little wild and crazy these days! When friends ask if I am having another, I laugh and say that I think 2 boys counts as 4 already, so I get extra credit! No, really, I am loving them through this stage, the good and the bad... more the good of course and ready for it to get a little easier, but I know it is a phase!

I'm posting a few recent random pics and also some of Jayce's first field trip to the strawberry patch with Mrs. Rogers class! I had so much fun, rode on the bus with the kids and my sister in law was so kind to keep Gabe! I love watching Jayce interact with his little school friends!

Jayce:

The good-
Jayce is hilarious as always and makes me laugh 100 times a day probably.
Example: I just told him he needs to eat his macaroni and cheese and broccoli (leftover lunch) before having any snacks, he said, I will eat the macaroni but the broccoli really gives me a headache mom...
-he showers me with kisses and hugs and roses (from my rosebush outside)
-he loves to play with Gabe most of the time and tells him he is his best friend ever
He told me today that I am the "best parent ever" because I
"make him food, help him play things, help him get ready, help teach him to be good," this made me feel really good that he acknowledged I am doing something!


The bad-

Yesterday he colored on my wall with permanent marker (first time ever, right after having them painted last week)
He dumped water down my oreck canister vacuum (first time ever again, right after I paid 60 dollars to have it repaired last week)...
BUT, I think God is using this to show me things are things... Yes, he was definitely punished and lectured for destroying property BUT, I did feel reminded in the midst of my frustration that I am so thankful for my relationship with Christ as HE is the only one that will remain the same when all else fails...


Gabe
The good-
He is talking up a storm, loves to say
"thank you mommy" when I hand him anything,
sometimes "mommy daddy,"- Jay said last night, I think we have become one person to Gabe

Loves to say "yes" and NOOOOOOOOO (quite good at this one)

He calls cereal "re-al"

Calls his nanny "mimi"- no matter how hard we work on this one...

He is beginning to like to give hugs in the morning time while we're getting ready and it is the sweetest thing!

The bad-

He is definitely having roll around on the ground fits
Also, he will turn bright red and start gagging from screaming so loud and intensely for 45 minutes to an hour at a time when he is mad or restrained in a car seat or store buggy... this does make me feel a little insane!
He gets really mad if I do not:
let him play with outlets
let him play with my makeup, especially the mascara
let him eat toothpaste
let him dump out bags of chips, pretzels or anything else that could possibly make a great mess
let him climb and jump off the couch or any other piece of furniture
let him climb up the swing set in the back yard

Other than this, we are good!

The great-with both of them, the good moments are great enough to makeup for the tough and I am so thankful to be their mommy through it all!